Ex-NFL player Sharper sentenced to up to 8 years in Las Vegas sex assault case

(Reuters) - Former NFL player Darren Sharper was sentenced to up to eight years in prison by a Las Vegas judge on Thursday on a charge of attempted sexual assault, though his lawyer said the sentence would run concurrently with his existing prison stint.

Sharper, who retired from the NFL in 2011 after helping lead the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl championship, did not appear in court as he is in prison after pleading guilty in a federal Louisiana court to drugging three women and having sex with them while they were incapacitated.

Sharper was sentenced on Thursday to 36 months to 96 months, said Clark County Courts spokeswoman Mary Ann Price.

Sharper's attorney, David Chesnoff, said the sentence would run concurrently with his existing 18-year prison sentence on the federal charges. Chesnoff added only that the sentence was consistent with the negotiated plea deal.

In a statement read in court on Thursday by the victim's attorney, Gloria Allred, the victim railed against Sharper's actions as well a legal system she described as abandoning her.

"Darren has taken a plea for attempted sexual assault regarding my case. He didn't try to assault me he did," she said in the statement. "I didn't agree to having flash backs or PTSD, he gave it to me without me wanting it. I was never consulted on this plea deal in my case and I believe that he should get the maximum penalty for sexual assault not this plea."

Sharper's 14-year career in the NFL included stints with the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. He was working as an NFL Network analyst when women began to allege they had blacked out while drinking with him and woke up to find they had been sexually abused.

He also pleaded guilty or no contest last year to rape or attempted rape charges involving nine women, including in Arizona and California.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Lisa Shumaker)